Coat hanger



Nov. 1, 1966 s. L. MAXWELL COAT HANGER Filed April 20, 1965 INVENTORSTUART L. MAXWELL B I 6 E Q 3 5 4 o 2 w A TTOR/VE Y5 United StatesPatent 3,282,481 CGAT HANGER Stuart L. Maxwell, 727 Dayton, Muskogee,Okla. Filed Apr. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 449,458 1 Claim.- (Cl. 22391) Thisinvention relates to an improved garment hanger. More particularly, theinvention relates to .a garment hanger having the usual provision of aninverted V- shaped body portion for receiving a coat or jacket thereonand including an improved trouser hanger bar characterized by itssimplicity, ease of use and eifectiveuess to prevent trousers fromsliding off.

A garment or coat hanger is a common household item and its use is wellkonwu. Typically, a coat hanger consists of an inverted V-shaped upperportion designed to receive the shoulder portions of a coat or jacketand a lower crossbar particularly adapted, when the hanger is used formens clothing, to receive trousers. One problem with the usual trouserportion of the hanger is that unless great care is exercised in drapingtrousers over the crossbar, one side or the other will be heavier andthe trousers will slide off.

Others have proposed various means for preventing trousers from slidingoff trouser crossbars and examples of efforts in this direction arefound in the following U.S. Patents: 1,512,130; 1,895,695; 1,968,065;2,044,346; 2,123,259; and 2,153,905.

Previous efforts to provide a satisfactory hanger for trousers haveachieved varying degrees of success. However, this invention provides animproved garment hanger which provides means for hanging a coat plusaccomplishing the additional objective of providing a greatly improvedmeans of hanging trousers. While, as previously indicated, others haveprovided means of retaining trousers of the trouser bar of .a coathanger, this invention is distinguished by a unique arrangement andmanufacturing construction characterized by simplicity and economy byimproved ease of use.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improvedgarment hanger.

More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a garmenthanger having the usual inverted V- shaped body portion for hanging acoat thereon and including a highly improved trouser crossbar portionhaving improved means of preventing trousers hung thereon from slidingofi.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved garmenthanger having the usual inverted V- shaped body portion to receive acoat thereon plus an improved trouser crossbar portion, the improvedcrossbar .portion being characterized by a construction arrangementutilizing single lengths of paralleled small diameter metal bars for aplurality of purposes. A better understanding of the invention whichfullfills these and other objects will be had by referring to thefollowing description and claim, taken in conjunction with the attacheddrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational front vie-w of the hanger of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of the hanger of this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE2.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the trouser crossbar portion ofthe hanger as taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 2showing the method of forming the trouser crossbar hinge.

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the 3,282,481 PatentedNov. 1, 1966 line 66 of FIGURE 2 and further showing the method offorming the trouser crossbar hinge.

This invention may be described as an improved garment hanger. Moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, the invention may 'bedescribed as an improved garment hanger comprising a body havingextending arm portions forming an inverted obtuse V, each of the armportions terminating at the outer end with a downwardly extendingportion, such downwardly extending portions defining first and secondvertical portions, an upwardly extending hanger hook affixed to saidbody at the apex, a trouser receiving crossbar, means hingeably affixingsaid crossbar at one end to the first of said vertical body portions, acrossbar hook afiixed to the second of said vertical body portionsremovably receiving the other end of said crossbar, and spacedparalleled trouser holding rods extending from the first to the secondvertiical body portion, said trouser holding rods closely spaced aboveand parallel to said trouser crossbar.

Referring now -to the drawings and first to FIGURE 1, the hanger of thisinvention is shown in elev-ational side view. The hanger consists of twobasic portions, that is, a body portion generally indicated by thenumeral 10 and a trouser crossbar generally indicated by the numeral 12.The body portion 10 consists of two extending arm portions 14 and 16which form an inverted obutse V. Each of the arm portions terminates atthe outer end with a downwardly extending portion defining a first andsecond vertical .portion 18 and 20.

Afiixed to and extending upwardly from the body portion 10 at the V apexof the arms 14 and 16 is a hanger hook 22 whereby the garment hanger maybe hung on a closet rod or the like.

The trouser crossbar 12 consists basically of a trouser crossbar 24having means generally indicated by the numeral 26 hinging the bar atone end to first vertical body portion 18. The hinging means 26 will bedescribed in detail subsequently. The opposite end of the crossbar 24 isremovably supported by a crossbar hook 28 which extends downwardly fromthe second body vertical portion 20.

Referring to the FIGURES 2 throuhg 6, all cross-sectional views, thedetails of construction of the improved trouser crossbar of the hangerof this invention are best shown. As shown in FIGURE 4 the crossbar 24is preferably of a T-shaped cross-sectional configuration, that is, incross-section the crossbar 24 has a vertical body portion 24A and anintegral T-bar portion 24B. The preferred iu-rther arrangement of thecross-section of the trouser bar 24 is the provision wherein the T-barportion 24B has an upper surface 24C configured substantially thesegment of a circle. The preferred embodiment of the crossbar 24 asillustrated in FIGURE 4 readily adapts the crossbar to be constructed ofextruded plastic, however, construction of wood or other similarmaterials in acceptable.

The most important part of this invention is the provision of spacedparalleled trouser holding rods 30 and 32. The rods 30 and 32are'preferably small diameter metallic rods and preferably formed ofbendable wire. The trouser holding rods are parallel to each other,spaced from each other, extend horizontally between the body verticalportions 18 and 20, and are positioned above and adjacent to the uppersurface 24C of the trouser crossbar 24. When no trousers are positionedon the trouser crossbar the trouser holding rods 30 and 32 may be incontact with it, but they are resiliently extended upward when trousersare placed across the bar 24 and the bar placed in position on hook 28.

The purpose of the trouser holding rods 30 and 32 is to prevent trousersplaced upon the trouser crossbar 24 from slipping oil. When it i desiredto place trousers ice upon the hanger the end of the crossbar 24 isremoved from hook 28 by a slight upward and lateralniovement. Trouserscan then be easily slipped on to the bar 24 and the bar then placedwithin and received by hook 28. The construction of hook 28 is bestshown in FIGURE 3.

An important part of this invention is the configuration of the trouserholding rods 36 and 32 which are arranged in such a way that these rodsserve three separate and distinct functions. As shown in FIGURES 1, 2, Sand 6, the trouser holding rods 30 and 32 are configured to form thehinge means generally indicated by the numeral 26. .As shown in theseviews the paralleled rods are each bent adjacent one end thereof atsubstantially a right angle, the right angle being indicated by thenumeral 34. The right angle 34 bent in each of the rods 3% and 32 formsa downwardly extending vertical portion 36, which portion extendsdownwardly beyond the end of the first vertical body portion 18. Thebody portion 18 encompasses the angular portions 34 of rods 3!) and 32.Secured to the downwardly extending portions 36 of rods 30 and 32 is thetrouser crossbar 24. In this manner the downwardly extending portions 36of rods 30 and 32 constitutes the hinge means 26 by which the trouserbar 24 is hingeably afiixcd to the first vertical body portion 18.

As is best seen in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, the opposite end of one of thetrouser holding rods 3% is bent at an angle 38, the angular portionbeing received by second vertical body portion 20, and extendsdownwardly from such vertical body portions to form the previouslymentioned hook 28.

In this manner it can be seen that the trouser holding rods 31) and 32each perform triple functions, that is, (1) the parallel horizontalspaced rods serve to maintain trousers draped across the trousercrossbar 24 in place and prevent the trousers from slipping oil? thehanger; (2) the integral downwardly extending portions 36 provide thehinge means by which the trouser bar 24 is supported to the hanger; and(3) the integral downwardly extending portion at the opposite end formsthe trouser bar receiving hook 28,

As shown in FIGURE the downwardly extending portions 36 of the trouserholding rods is formed in a U so that in essence the trouser holdingrods 30 and 32 are a single length of wire which performs the threefunctions above enumerated. This arrangement is optional as the hangercan equally be constructed wherein the point A indicated in FIGURE 5 maybe separated so that two lengths of wire are utilized to form the'threefunctions.

The body portion of this invention, while it can be made of a variety ofmaterials, is preferably formed of plastic. i

During manufacturing processes the angular portions 34 and 38 of thetrouser holding rods 30 and 32 are embedded in the vertical bodyportions 18 and 20. In like manner, the crossbar 24 may be manufacturedin a way so that the downwardly extending portions 36 of the trouserholding rods 30 and 32 are embedded into the end of the bar as it isformed.

The hinge 26 formed by downwardly extending portions 36 of rods 3% and32 is a hinge in a limited sense, that the hinge permits the trousercrossbar 24 to be moved sutficiently to hook and unhook the end fromhook 28. When unhooked from hook 28 the trouser crossbar 24 extendsnormally horizontally with the end opposite hinge 26 just below hook 28,This permits a user to easily slip trousers over the trouser crossbar 24with one hand while 4 the hanger is held by the other hand grasping armportion 14.

The hanger of this invention is simple of construction, economical tomanufacture and provides an improved garment hanger having superiormeans of retaining trousers on the trouser crossbar so that thepossiblity of the trouser slipping from the bar is eliminated.

While the invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in thedetails of construction and arrangement of components without departingfrom the spirit and the scope of this disclosure.

What is claimed:

An improved garment hanger comprising:

a body having extending arrn portions forming an inverted obtuse V, eachof the arm portions terminating at the outer end with a downwardlyextending portion, the downwardly extending portions defining first andsecond vertical portions;

an upwardly extending hanger hook affixed to said body at the V apex;

spaced paralleled rods each bent at one end at a right angle formingparalleled downwardly extending portions, one of said rods bent at theopposite end at a right angle forming a single downwardly extendingportion, the portions of said rods forming said right angles encompassedwithin the lower end portions of said first and second vertical portionswhereby said parallel rods extend horizontally between said first andsecond vertical portions, said parallel downwardly extending portions ofsaid rods extend downwardly from the lower end of the first verticalportion, the single rod portion extending downwardly from said secondvertical body portion and bent to form a crossbar hook; and

a crossbar having a first end affixed to said parallel downwardlyextending portions of said rods extending from said first vertical bodyportion, said paralleled downwardly extending portions of said rodforming a hinge permitting limited hingeable movement of said crossbar,said crossbar being of T-shaped crosssectional configuration having anintergral horizontal and vertical portion, the horizontal portion beingadjacent, parallel and below said paralleled rods and having an uppersurface defiined substantially as a segernent of a circle, the sec-0ndend of said crossbar being removably received and supported by saidcrossbar hook.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,196,916 9/1916Welch 223-91 1,756,533 4/ 1930 Batts 22391 2,963,207 12/1960 Glowka223-91 2,998,173 8/ 1961 Lutz 22391 3,067,917 12/1962 Reller et al 22391FOREIGN PATENTS 914,604 6/ 1946 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

FRANK I. COHEN, Examiner.

G, H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

